Welcome, welcome, one and all, to the first part of the January-June 2021 Wizard Rock Six Month Report! Twice a year, I compile this chronological list and review-in-brief of all the awesome wizard rock music that has been released or rereleased in the past six months of the year. A ton of amazing stuff has happened in the wizard rock community in the last six months: ongoing Trapped in the House shows, the second annual O.W.L. Fest, the launch of the Wizrocklopedia Compilation Club, monthly Wrock Listening Parties on the Wizard Rock Discord and much more. And of course, all the muuuuuusic!

If music is the greatest magic we know, these last six months have been extremely magical, with many wrockers both new and old releasing incredible new music. I’ll provide more complete stats in the upcoming final part, but rest assured that there were a LOT of new releases (as well as reissues made possible by the Wizrocklopedia Music Archive!)!

So, without further ado, let’s get into our list of releases! If we missed anything or made any errors, comment below or email us at wizrocklopedia [at] gmail [dot] com! You can also read parts two & three!

January 4: Slytherin – When the Darkness Comes album: Bandcamp | iTunes | Spotify | YouTube

Unbelievably talented—and mysterious!—wizard metal band Slytherin started the year off right with their second album, a heavy and powerful exploration of many different HP themes!

January 8: Dave Weingart – “Just a Boy Named Harry:” Bandcamp

In December and January, filk legend Karl-Johan Norén published a series of “Filk for Wrockers” articles on the ‘Pedia. In the third article, we were proud to include this exclusive rerelease of a classic and little-heard Harry Potter filk song from 2003!

January 11: Ariel Factor Birdoff – guides not gatekeepers EP: Bandcamp | iTunes | Spotify | YouTube

Ariel Factor Birdoff of Madam Pince and the Librarians released her debut solo EP for rogue librarians in January. From the perspective of an older and cooler Madam Pince, its electropop stylings champion the awesomeness of libraries for all!

January 14: Totally Knuts – Wizards Loving Wizards EP: Bandcamp | iTunes | Spotify | YouTube

This is the sequel to Totally Knuts’ Witches Loving Witches EP of last October: 5 songs celebrating Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas and all the other gay wizards at Hogwarts!

January 15: Obliviate! – Forgetting What I Remembered (with bonus tracks) album: Bandcamp

The first official Wizrocklopedia Music Archive rerelease of the year was the complete discography of Obliviate! Their one and only album, plus their various singles, were compiled so fans can enjoy their acoustic sound and skilled songwriting again.

January 16: Potterwatch – “Dolores Umbridge:” Soundcloud

This debut song by brand-new band Potterwatch is a wrocking and scathing putdown of everyone’s least favorite High Inquisitor! Can’t wait to hear more from this group!

January 20: Ludo Bagman & the Trash – Looking Through album: Bandcamp

This is Ludo Bagman & the Trash’s 2^nd full-length album, including a mix of brilliant in-depth character studies, rousing anthems and just plain great songs, all featuring their distinctive indie rock sound!

January 23: Various artists – Wrock Cover Swap #2 informal album: YouTube

Totally Knuts organized this awesome project in Summer and Winter of 2020-21: wrockers signed up and were assigned to cover songs by other wrockers! This installment includes amazing covers from Gred & Forge, Ashley Hamel, Kirstyn Hippe and many more folks!

Sometime in February: The Faithful Sidekicks – “WandOS:” Not publicly available anymore, sadly

This hilarious song/commercial was written for February Album-Writing Month and is currently only available to the Faithful Sidekicks’ Patreon backers. It’s about the latest wand upgrades! Hopefully they’ll release it publicly for real at some point!

February 2: Daniel Kelly – Muggles Ahoy! EP: Bandcamp

Incredibly prolific Australian filker and folkie Daniel Kelly recorded this incredibly delightful EP of Harry Potter sea shanties. The harmonies are jaw-dropping, and the lyrics are perfect! (And, it’s not the only wrock sea shanty release this year…wink wink!)

February 5: Into the Pensieve – Gather Your Thoughts album: Bandcamp

Into the Pensieve’s classic album, featuring skillful folk rock sounds, incredible songwriting, and just all-around greatness, was rereleased by the ‘Pedia on this Bandcamp Friday! I’m so glad this one is out in the world again.

February 14: Totally Knuts, Candle Wix, Aguamenti, & Ludo Bagman and the Trash – Stalking the Halls album: Bandcamp

This is a wonderful little oddity that I contributed to: A collaborative album by a group of nonbinary wizard rockers (led by Totally Knuts) about various cats in the Harry Potter universe! It is great fun—and all proceeds from it go to Catman2, a marvelous cat shelter in Western North Carolina!

February 19: Various artists – Be My Wrocking Valentine album: Bandcamp

For Valentine’s week, the Wizrocklopedia reissued this ultra-rare compilation from 2008, containing several exclusive songs from Hallows & Horcruxes, Potter Ink and more!

February 21 (and ongoing): Mermanda – Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Jams EP/album: Bandcamp

Amanda from the wizard rock band Muggle Snuggle has a solo project under the name Mermanda! This continuously updated now-EP, soon-to-be-album consists of her songs inspired by the Wizrocklopedia’s Bertie Botts Every Flavor Jam monthly creative prompt!

February 27: PattyCake Productions – “The Boy Who Lived:” iTunes | Spotify | Video | YouTube

Need a dose of showtunes in your wizard rock playlist? Fannish production collective PattyCake released this incredible HP-themed song (and video!) in February. Guaranteed to wow you!

March 6: Aidan Elizabeth – “Honeydukes:” YouTube

YouTuber Aidan Elizabeth did this live ukulele cover of Kirstyn Hippe’s “Honeydukes” song! She has an awesome voice and hopefully will do some more wizard rock covers (or originals?) soon…fingers crossed!

March 10: Various artists – Wizrocklopedia Compilation Club #1: Back to the Beginning album: Not publicly available—sign up here to get all four albums!

The Wizrocklopedia, in collaboration with the Wizard Rock Sampler, was incredibly excited to launch the Wizrocklopedia Compilation Club in 2021! It’s a special club where members get four exclusive brand-new wizard rock compilations per year! The first one had a theme of “beginnings,” and it features wondrous tunes by Tonks & the Aurors, Pussycat Dolores, Ludo Bagman & the Trash and so many more!

March 14: Totally Knuts – Out of the Binary album: Bandcamp | iTunes | Spotify | YouTube

Totally Knuts’ third solo wizard rock album celebrates all of their headcanons of nonbinary witches, wizards and wixes at Hogwarts and beyond! From RAB to Luna Lovegood to Bill Weasley, this album affirms that yes, there are tons of nonbinary folks in the wizarding world!

Wow. That’s a lot of incredible music! And there’s a lot more of it where that came from! Check back in this space next week for part 2!

And! If you read all the way to the end, we’ve got a surprise for you! To celebrate the amazing creations of the wrock community this year, we’re hosting a Bandcamp gift card giveaway! Just comment on any one of these 6-month round up posts with one of your favorite releases or songs of the past 6 months. (One comment per person, please!) The winner will be announced on July 19! Happy listening and wrocking out!